Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Tuesday, August 19th. Today on Forbes, meet the mastermind behind the $1.9 billion

poppy deal. Sitting in his Manhattan office where hot pink, purple, and orange cans of his soda brand

poppy are tacked to the wall like artwork. Rohan Oza explains how,

for the past 20 years, he's been searching for the perfect soft drink. He says, quote,

Americans are looking for the brands of tomorrow. 30 years from now, Poppy is going to be the

soda for my kids. The 53-year-old Oza is co-founder of Los Angeles-based private equity firm, Cavoo Consumer

Partners, and was the chairman of prebiotic soda, Poppy, and its single largest individual

shareholder, when Pepsi acquired it in May for $1.9 billion.

The Poppy deal is Oza's biggest exit yet, but it's far from his first.

He played a key role in some of the largest beverage acquisitions of the past two decades,

including vitamin water and smart water, $4.1 billion in 2007,

as well as by, an antioxidant-infused water that sold for $1.7 billion in 2007, as well as buy, an antioxidant infused water that sold for $1.7 billion in

2016.

OZ's role in those deals was a cross between hitmaker and matchmaker, having brought in 50 cent to

vitamin water, Jennifer Aniston to Smartwater, and Justin Timberlake to buy, through equity deals that saw

the celebrities driving sales.

Curtis Jackson, better known as 50 Cent, says, quote, When Rohan and I did the vitamin

water deal, it became the blueprint that set the tone for future equity ownership partnerships.

We proved that celebrities could bet on themselves and win big,

and that's exactly what he continues to do.

For Oza, the Path to Poppy came through one of his frequent appearances on ABC's Shark Tank.

On a 2018 episode, Oza took a 25% stake in the Austin, Texas-based beverage brand, founded by husband and wife

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